Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Ch12:karmayoga-response to a query

Q.

12.10 prescribes performance of actions for the Lord's sake. 12.11 suggestsrenouncing the fruits of actions *if 12.10 cannot be practiced*.That conditional clause in ** is a little baffling, which gives animpression that 12.10 and 12.11 are two distinct prescriptions forthe same samsArik malady.

A doubt can, therefore, be expressed that, if an aspirant performsall actions for the Lord's sake (12.10), can he/she still continue toentertain adhikAra over the results? Will that help? You seemed toimply that even the sense of adhikAra will wane in due course. Am Iright?

You have very kindly elaborated on 12.11 saying that what is meant init is prasAda buddhi. On similar lines, can't we then interpret12.10 as relinquishment of agency in actions?

A.In my understanding there is a subtle but crucial difference between the 12.10and 12.11.Which is why, Bhagwan says "if you are unable to do even this then...."

To begin with karma in a vedantic or vedic sense is different from the wordaction - in a vedantic sense the term karma is intimately related to the motive.

Let us take the example of an action - stabbing a person in the chest.A person is stabbing a person in the chest to rob him off his money in thenightA soldier is stabbing an enemy soldier in the battlefield to safeguard Kargil.A rapist is stabbing an attacker who is about to outrage her modestyA doctor is "stabbing" a dying patient's chest to remove the blood collectionaround his heart to save his life.

In all the instances the action is the same - insertion of a sharp metallicknife into the other person's chest - but none of these karmas are the same andeach of these karmas have different connotations as far as karmaphalas go.The robber certainly will incur a grave papa, the soldier actually a gravepunya, and also perhaps the physician.And this is because what constitutes that particular karma has to do with thenotion of doer-ship or kartrtvam, or aham-kAra, and by the same token, as wellas its motive.(BG 18:14)

Now let us consider 12.10 with this brief background, and go back to theexample of the teacher.If this teacher goes through her job everyday viewing it as her duty towardssociety and in turn towards the Order which is Ishwara, in other words has aconsistent and persistent ishwara-arpanabuddhi, then her work itself is herworship. The results are immaterial. If her student succeeds and goes on tobecome the President of India and sends her a thank you note - OK. If he turnsout to be a gangster - also OK. Her success or failure is unrelated to thesuccess or failure of her job - her motive in doing this job is not for the sakeof anything else besides her way of worshipping or devoting or relating toIshwara. And in so doing the results become secondary - there is really speakingno ownership over the result because the basic motivation for the work itselfhas already been fulfilled. Every day of work is a pleasure, a chance to delightin devotion.

Now if this teacher is not so virtuous, and is still very much under the holdof her human raga-dveshas, and is not able to have this kind of absorption inthe Lord as even she does her works - what then? She is worried about how herstudents are going to fare in their test, and whether she will be judged bytheir grades as a success or a failure, she is envious of the teacher in theother class who always gets more praise, she starts taking some private tutionsto some rich kids, so as to make more money, and be more comfortable, she isanxious about a hundred different things, then how is such a person to begin toevolve? Bhagwan the Master Marketer knows his audience only too well!! So, tothis the benevolent Bhagawan says no problem - in 12.11 - continue being thisway, continue your ego-centric motive-driven, ahankara-filled mode of conduct,but how about making a small gesture towards Me - by all means be anxious aboutthe best teacher award, by all means don'tthink of me for a second while you did your job, BUT at the time you reap yourreward, say you receive the best teacher award at the end of the year, orperhaps even when you get your paycheck at the end of the month, or when you seeyour student doing well at the end of the day, or you are able to make a studentunderstand something at the end of the class, then for that small instant -think of Me - and dedicate that fruit - that karmaphala - to Me. Let your mindnot labor under the misconception that "i" this wonderful person did somethingremarkable, but let my ego bow down to Him if only for a moment, who gave me theintellect, the mind, the body, the environment, the education, the opportunityto be of service, etc and let my heart beat in gratitude in this moment ofrecognition, and let my mind remain cheerful, and accepting.

If this attitude is allowed to mature it will surely metamorphose from thisprasabuddhi into the more sublime ishwara-arpanabuddhi - "kAyena vAchAmanaseindriyair vA buddhyAtmanA vA prakrte svabhAvat karomi yad yad sakalamparasmai nArAyanAyEti samarpayami"